Session 342 - The Foulspawn Invasion
General Summary
Summer 727TR
The Story So Far
The King is dead. Long live the King.
King Minigath Elendsa, who had ruled the Kingdom of Kaldor well for thirty-three years, has been assassinated. His nephew Sir Conwan Elendsa has been crowned King, but the former King's bastard sons have contested this. Meanwhile, in the background, the mysterious Esoterical Order of Lothrim is up to no good, and they are about to become very well known.
The heroes are returning to Baseta Keep after ambushing the Orbaalnese messengers and hopefully slowing down or preventing a large army of Viking warriors from joining the war on the enemy’s side. However, as they leave the forest and enter civilization, they notice burning villages. Massive Orc armies are on the move.
This is the continuation of Session 340 - Messing with the Viking Ambassador.
Location - Nebrem Manor in the Kingdom of Kaldor.
27th Nolus (Summer) 727TR
Part 1 – The Old Man vs the Orcs
Last night, large orc raiding bands struck the eastern manors of the Barony of Baseta; from the smoke and fires, it looks like they have been raised. A party spots another small band of foulspawn attacking the Nebrem Manor, with another much larger host less than an hour away. The party rushes to offer aid.
The heroes charge, and Valeria unleashes one of her most potent spells, Vampiric Exsanguination, which drains the blood and life force of a half-dozen gargun raiders, immediately killing most, and she gains some of their strength. Dryueh and Rycon slaughter several more, drawing the attention of all the remaining evil humanoids except one who cuts down a peasant just before he can make it to safety. Then, the evil brute charges the elderly lord.
Rycon knocks an orc to the ground, leaps over the prone monster, and rushes to help the old man. Before he gets there, the raging brute slashes at the old man, who, despite his advanced age, deflects the swing from a crude blade. Nonetheless, Sir Turphet is staggered, has dropped his guard, and would like to be killed by another such blow. Rycon arrives in time and kills the swine. Valeria and Dryueh finish off the remaining orcs.
Part 2 - Escape
Sir Turphet thanks the heroes, and the elderly knight recognizes Rycon from last year's tourney (refer to Session 300 - Moments of Honor). He explains his grandson is held hostage by Sheriff Maldan Harabor in Castle Olokand, and, like all of the barony's manors, most of his fighting-age yeoman and martially inclined peasants have been drafted into the sheriff's rebel army. He has very few men left to guard his manor's walls, and when told there are hundreds of orcs about an hour away, the knight says the only option would be to flee; they should travel to the nearby Baseta Keep, the barony's most defensible stronghold. Sir Turphet assembles the villagers, and they start a relatively short but dangerous trek to Baseta.
Dryueh, acting as a scout, avoids trouble. Orc bands are everywhere. Other villages seem to have the same idea, as the nearby Gentes Manor is all but deserted, and scores of terrified and confused people are on the road.
Location - Baseta Keep in the Kingdom of Kaldor.
Part 3 – Saint Poulanos Abbey
Abbot Gathul explains that a dozen retired Order of the Lady of Paladins Melken (common soldiers) have volunteered to mount a last-ditch defense. However, Rycon judges that they will only hold out for a short time. They would be better placed on the walls of the keep.
Abbott explains that the keep's constable, Sir Romlash Ethasiel, after receiving word early this morning that orcs threaten his father's Barony of Sethew, rushed to help, taking most of Baseta’s military strength. Only a few local guards are left, and worse, they are led by Rycon’s old rival, the inept Sir Crya Dezellar. Sir Crya refuses to let the commoners into the keep for security purposes. “A disgraceful act of cowardness,” the priest comments.
Part 4 – The Constable of Baseta Keep
Part 5 – A Coward
Before midday, hundreds of bloodthirsty orcs arrive, burning and destroying large parts of the township and set to work constructing siege ladders. This is only a small part of a much larger army, but the keep's defenders are massively outnumbered. Soon, under a flag of truce, three humans with a trio of intimidating black orc guards approach the keep. Their leader, Captain Carrick, demands that the keep surrender.
“Sir Crya, you are vastly outnumbered and have no hope to win. Soon, this keep will fall, and all within executed. Except you. You will be impaled on a spit and slowly roasted. My guards will eat you alive. I look forward to your screams. Or you could honorably surrender; most within the keep will be spared. All you have to do is swear allegiance to the Daughter of Lothrim, and you will granted land and power. The choice is yours.”
Sir Crya is trembling. He glances about frantically for support among his men, finding none, and in a weak voice says, “I surrender.” Rycon slaps him across his face and challenges him to a duel. Sir Crya draws his sword and receives a blow to his bad leg, which causes him to collapse onto the ground. The hapless knight fights back ineffectively, and with contempt, Rycom moves his blade to Sir Crya's throat and demands he yield. Sir Crya whimpers, “I yield,” and is dragged away.
Rycon takes command, unopposed, and tells the enemy commander who he is and that the keep will hold. He also adds a bluff that he has reinforcements on the way. The captain falls for the lie, thinking the reinforcements could be Sheriff Maldan Harabor army, and rather than wait for nightfall, he prematurely orders an assault. He appears to be working on a tight schedule.
Part 6 – The Battle of Baseta Keep 27 of Nolus 727TR
An hour later, the bloodthirsty orc hordes attack with a huge volley of arrows and then charge forward, rushing the walls with their ladders. This is the moment Valeria has been waiting for. She causes one of the ladders to spin wildly, mangling half a dozen orcs and killing many more with her illusionary Shadow Evocations. She keeps one of her most potent spells in reserve. However, there are numerous enemies, and despite the casualties, they keep coming.
Initially, the gatehouse is nearly overwhelmed, but Rycon rallies the men, and Dryueh keeps many in the fight using his superb medical expertise. But elsewhere, the enemy numbers are too great, and the orcs breach a large section of the palisade wall. Rycon rushes to deal with this crisis with the gatehouse just holding. He calls for help, and all that is uncommitted are a dozen priests from the Church of Larani. At least they have some martial training. Rycon's hastily cobbled together reserve bocks and, after some losses, turned back the enemy advance.
Meanwhile, the enemy prepares a final rush as only a handful of men hold the gatehouse. With so few left it looks on the verge of falling. This is the moment Valeria was waiting for. With the orcs so bunched up on or behind the ladders, she unleashes her last remaining powerful spell, a Spirit Blast. The foulspawn feel what passes for their souls get ripped from their bodies; a score of the foulspawn instantly drop dead, and the few that survive are devastated. The foulspawn's morale finally breaks, and they flee. The enemy army abandons their siege of Baseta, destroying what they can in the town as they go, joining up with a much larger army and moving on to other objectives.
Despite significant losses the heroes and the defenders have won the day, and Rycon declares himself acting constable of the Baseta Keep.
To be continued.NPC Interactions
Lord Turphet Haurna - the Lord of Nebrem Manor.
Abbot (Serolan) Gathul Plagane - of St. Poulanos Abbey.
Sir Crya Dezellar - former acting Constable of Baseta Keep.
Captain Carrick - Leader of the orc attack.
Player Characters
Valeria - Human - L15 Shadow Sorcerer
Background - Magical Experiment.
Archetype - Beastmaster.
Rycon - Human - L15 Fighter
Background - Rebel Knight.
Archetypes - Liberator Champion/Dual Weapon Warrior/Swashbuckler.
Dryueh - 1/2 Elf - L15 Thief Rogue
Background - Scout.
Archetypes - Vigilante/Medic/Shadowdancer/Wizard.
Next Session
Rycon
Dryueh
Valeria
Esoterical Order of Lothrim
A secret society of wizards bent on creating a mage-ruled empire on the isle of Harn. They are led by a skilled mage claiming to be the daughter of Lothrim the Foulspawner and control numerous powerful orc nations.
Daylight Elixir
After examining numerous orc corpses, the heroes discover bottles of an alchemical elixir. This ointment applied directly to the eyes suppresses the inherent foulspawn light blindness, but it is also a powerful stimulant that increases aggression and may be addictive. It may also decrease the orcs' lifespan, which is hardly an important consideration since no orc ever dies of old age.
The Order of Lothrim discovered the recipe for this foul concoction in Norlak’s Laboratory. Fortunately, the heroes destroyed the records of many of the alchemist Norlak’s more dangerous alchemical discoveries (refer Session 278 - Norlak's Tower and Session 280 - Secrets of a Lost Laboratory).
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